Category Archives: Politics

When you lie to the Business Investors you ‘Own the lies’ when it all goes wrong

by Peter Binose

When Ralph Gonsalves announced the finish and operational dates for the Argyle International Airport, we must ask ourselves if he knew each of those dates was unachievable. I like many others believe he did know that the completion dates he gave us were not just unachievable, he knew that such statements were downright lies.

When you tell lies sooner or later your very own lies will come back and bite you in the arse, as the old folk would say.

Saying the airport would definitely be up and running by 2011 may very well have caused all sorts of business people who were ardent followers of Gonsalves, to invest money in their business’s to take advantage of the upswing in trade that the same Gonsalves claimed would follow the airport opening.

He also told the people that he would build a city on the Arnos Vale site when the air traffic was transferred to Argyle. He said the new city would be linked to the old city of Kingstown by a four lane tunnel under the hill, it doesn’t matter that approaching the tunnel from either end it would only be one lane. The whole matter was embroidered to wind the business people into spending money.

Hotels in Villa who are ULP supporters have invested fortunes in upgrading their family owned hotels in anticipation of the Gonsalves forecast of a huge surge in stop over’s and business in general.

People like Ken Boyer borrowed money from banks to build his supermarket and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, why? because as a cousin to Gonsalves he believed that Gonsalves would finish the airport by 2011 and the new city would be finished five years after that in 2016. Ken was a little silly because he should have known better than most of Gonsalves ability to make things up, to embroider the truth and make it into blatant lies.

The Harlequin Buccament Bay Project based all its plans on the airport opening in 2011, they have also been shafted and they must be seriously in danger of folding because the airport is the key to much of their projected business. They were made promises and are now suffering from lies. Continue reading →

“CLICO has become the poster child for all that is wrong in Barbados. The people know that elite wrongdoers are well protected – they have the protection of the police and the government.

The stench of corruption and the grandstanding of sanctimonious, arrogant, lawless and contemptuous elite engulf the people. Citizens are arming themselves, shooting at police and committing more grievous crimes. With millions of dollars stolen and no real hope of its recovery, approximately 20,000 seniors are at risk of poverty. And finally, as has been alluded to above, hardly ever are elites incarcerated in BARBADOS.”

ON JANUARY 2, 1994, CLICO International Life Insurance Limited opened its doors taking over the life insurance operations in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean of Colonial Life Insurance Company (Trinidad) Limited. CLICO served the Caribbean for over 60 years. The mission of CLICO International was to become the company of choice among life insurance buyers in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. “We will do this by tailoring our products to the needs of our customers, by delivering superior customer service, and by developing our reputation as a strong, financially stable company, deeply committed to the welfare of the communities that we serve.” At the helm was Leroy Parris, chairman of CLICO Holdings Barbados Ltd., which included services such as CLICO International Life Insurance Ltd. With 60 years of service under its belt, the company became one of the largest local conglomerates in the region, encompassing over 65 companies in 32…

Editor’s Note: We received this post anonymously, and like anything you read here at BFP or in the mainstream press you should keep your mind open and at the same time remember that BFP is an anonymous website. The blogs are still the wild west when it comes to accuracy… it might be true, it might not be.

After reading two articles in the press late last year regarding the new Bushy Park facility I think it is time that Barbadians hear the full truth about this development, my understanding is…

The Government of Barbados and by extension the PEOPLE of Barbados own the land.

Investors (SOME STILL TO BE IDENTIFIED) have erected buildings on said land presumably with a contract. Surely the details of said contract should be available to the public seeing that the land is owned by the TAXPAYERS of Barbados.

Mr Stephen Lashley, Minister of Sport has confirmed that part of this contract stipulates that the facility shall be leased to other SPORTING organisations at a reasonable rate after discussion with the primary shareholder, that being Government.

Who are the real investors in the new facility at Bushy Park?

Why has PERMANENT branding been allowed, which prohibits competing entities from branding their products even if they sponsor an event there? Case in point – LIME is not allowed to advertise because DIGICEL is already there .

Is Bushy Park Motor Sport Inc (BPMSI) a shareholder in the new development and if not what gives them the right to charge fees for the useage of the track?

Is it true that the revenue from the Top Gear festival went directly to BPMSI?

Is it true that there is a law suit pending with regard to the use of the RALLY CROSS name being used without permission at the said Top Gear event?

Is it also true that a certain individual has threatened to dig up the track if his demands are not met?

As majority owners at Bushy Park should Government not have a representative on the Board which administers the facility?

How is it possible for BPCI to employ and I assume PAY:

General Manager
Business Manager
Secretary
CEO which position was not advertised locally

… when they only had two events last year and only have one event planned for this year?

Barbadians need answers to these questions and more as it seems in today’s world MONEY does all the talking.

Many of our politicians have fallen short of their promises, or have done great injury to their stewardship. In some cases, they have shown to be less than scrupulous in their management of our affairs. Yet we reward them with more time for embarrassment. Our only excuse, perhaps, is that within the context of our democracy there must be a Government –– good, bad or indifferent.

But how can we explain retaining any Government that seizes land compulsorily and breaches the law by refusing to pay for it? How can we contemplate returning the same Government to power that squanders more than $300 million on failed projects? How can we give succour to any leader who fails to discipline a parliamentary colleague brought to public shame by the highest court in the land?

How can we forgive any Government that has ravaged our agriculture sector? How can we forgive politicians who facilitate construction contracts without a bidding process? How can we be satisfied with leadership that doesn’t boast of achievements, but wallows in lofty verbosity, smug claims of not reading newspapers and punishing dissenters with laughter?

How can we not ask for accountability in situations where some politicians possess six high-end cars, obtained on Government salaries that are common knowledge in the Official Gazette? How can millions of dollars be spirited away from an insurance company and our Attorney General not demand a criminal investigation by the police? How can a state-appointed insurance supervisory body fail to carry out its mandate to the detriment of thousands of policyholders and no heads roll? How can an Auditor General annually expose instances of fraud and blatant theft and yet no one is held to account?

Who loaned Speaker of the House Michael Carrington the money to pay back what he purloined from his trust account?

Why should thieving lawyers be able to walk free once caught – if they pay back the money they took?

Did the Barbados Bar Association audit Carrington’s trust account?

Citizens demand transparency!

When ordinary folk get caught stealing, they can’t just hand back the money, automobile or whatever they stole and walk free, so why should Barbados lawyers and politicians have that privilege?

Barbados lawyers and politicians have something like a gentleman’s agreement between themselves that it is best for the profession if misdeeds are covered up. So the Barbados Bar Association and the political parties talk about integrity and accountability – but they don’t really want to see any of their good ‘ol boys network behind bars.

They also know that it is dangerous to put others in jail who may have as much on you and you do on them! We’ve covered this story time and time again here at BFP.

Old boy network covers for a corrupt politician and lawyer

No surprise that after lawyer and Speaker of the House Michael Carrington was unable to pay a court order to return almost $250,000 he stole from a client 14 years ago, that the old boy network came up with the money to replace what Carrington illegally took from his trust account. (But after the court and news media said it was almost a quarter million dollars, why did Carrington yesterday pay only just over $200,000?)

It only took 14 years of lawsuit, tears and a life destroyed for a 78 year old senior in a wheelchair, John Griffiths, to receive the money his aunt left him in the year 2000! Michael Carrington was supposed to surrender the money to Griffiths 14 years ago, but kept it for himself and then couldn’t pay it.

Carrington’s trust account has the evidence but the Barbados Bar Association isn’t going to go there. As Speaker of the House, Carrington is part of the elites and is as untouchable as lawyer and former Prime Minister David Thompson who money laundered millions for his friend Leroy Parris.

Nothing changes on this rock no matter which group of political elites is in power.

And the lapdog piss-itself Barbados news media won’t come close to asking the right questions in this story. Bet on that too.

Michael Carrington is a crooked lawyer who stole a quarter million dollars from a vulnerable 78 year old pensioner. That simple truth means that Carrington is not fit to be a Member of Parliament let alone Speaker of the House.”

It is a simple matter, really, and one that is hardly unknown in Barbados. Over two years ago a lawyer was supposed to transfer about a quarter of a million dollars from his trust account to a Mr. John Griffiths, the beneficiary of his aunt’s estate. Instead, the crooked lawyer kept the money and made excuses to Mr. Griffiths.

Mr. Griffiths was forced to launch a lawsuit against the lawyer. Griffiths won and the court ordered the crooked lawyer to pay the money back and give an accounting within 28 days – but the lawyer failed to pay the money or provide an accounting.

Nothing unusual in Barbados where we seem to have hordes of crooked lawyers… except that this crooked lawyer is Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House Michael Carrington QC. Lawyer, Queen’s Counsel, MP, Speaker of the House… Oh Dear!

So the BLP Opposition has been walking out of Parliament because even in a house that is heavily populated with thieving lawyers, the elected politicians perceive that a lawyer who raids their trust account is not only crooked, but stupid to be so open about a theft.

Why hasn’t Michael Carrington paid the money as the court ordered?

That’s easy to guess – Carrington probably doesn’t have the money anymore. He stole it, and spent it on himself, probably intending to replace it in his trust account later or pay it back in pieces. Or, maybe wait for Mr. Griffiths to pass on and then keep the money forever. That’s not an unreasonable guess at Carrington’s motives as the victim is 78 years old, in ill health and confined to a wheelchair.

Michael Carrington is a crooked lawyer who stole a quarter million dollars from a vulnerable 78 year old man – and that means Carrington is not fit to be a Member of Parliament let alone Speaker of the House.

How long must ordinary Bajans put up with corrupt politicians compulsorily acquiring private lands – to be converted into private profits for the political elites and their friends?

“Sobbing uncontrollably, his mother said she was afraid that her house and land would be taken away.” (Nation News)

Minister of Housing and Lands Denis Kellman harassing widow for her property for 18 years

Every Bajan has seen or heard about this before – sometimes involving family, friends or old Aunties. Mostly we keep our mouths shut.

We keep our mouths shut because we know how it is ’bout hey. We know that there is no place to go, and we have to spend the next 70 years on this little island, God willing. Better not to cross the powerful political and financial elites who can have all your family sacked from their jobs over a few months with a word here and there.

Yes, it’s that bad on any of these small islands, including Bim. The outside world over and away in the UK and the USA don’t know the truth about living here.

Denis Kellman has been after widow’s land since 1996 “for the public interest”

Politicians get into power and then they start hunting around for victims. Widows are always high on the hit list. Better if they are money poor and land rich with any adult children living over and away. Usually involves land that was once valuable in crops or far from the city but not worth too much these days unless… unless…

… unless the building permissions are changed by the government. Then scrub land becomes worth gold… but it never happens in the widow’s hands. Never. Never ever. Never.

So the government ‘compulsorily acquires’ the land for some “really important national purpose…” but maybe after the government owns the land for a few years, development doesn’t happen. Budget problems, ya see! So the government sells the land to private interests and sometimes for less than the purchase price.

“When contacted, Kellman admitted that the land was earmarked for development purposes but refused to expand on that.”

Happens all the time… private lands seized by government for agricultural prices. Then the government flips the land to private interests for the same price, then the new owners sell it for thirty, forty or a hundred times the price paid the widow. But it is all engineered from the start. Happens all the time.

“My father bought this land in 1952, built this house in 1953 and he died in 1954 when I was only six years old, leaving this property for me and my mother…

Mr. Edwards said Minister of Housing and Lands Denis Kellman first approached him about the land in 1996.”

Farmers are a second class of victim. Scrub land that used to be profitable, the farmer getting older and his children professionals or gone away with zero interest in agriculture. So the farmer applies for development permission. Once that permission comes through, his land is worth a fortune.

But it never comes through. He can wait 15 years but he’ll never get permission to develop his land. Then some ‘representatives for a consortium’ quietly approach him with an offer. Continue reading →